ScanTrac

Of all the apps I have worked on over the years, ScanTrac is my favorite.

ScanTrac

ScanTrac is a scanner app, built entirely with JavasScript using React.js, which allows shippers and retailers to scan barcodes with their own mobile phones. It sends and receives data from the PCSTrac back-end and eliminates the need to buy expensive scanner guns to interoperate with our 3PL and 4PL data.

What I love most about ScanTrac is working with my boss-mentor.

So. Much. Learning!

The importance of a committed boss-mentor cannot be overstated. Mine welcomed me into a phenomenal codebase and patiently guided me through it. I have received hundreds of hours of personal instruction. This sets up a positive feedback loop because I am driven to reward his mentorship with great results. My own style of management follows this same model: inspire, teach, grow. It just works.

I also love working with React.js

React.js

I love its componentized architecture, the declarative nature of the render function, and our build system with npm and yarn. Styling components can be a challenge but it works for me. I love the Google Chrome React dev tools and I am quite satisfied with react-toolbox and material icons. I also love working with our testing suite, which uses blue-tape and sinon with sinon spy.

My contributions included a heavy dose of UI/UX to improve the feel of the app, including the creation of a welcome page with an initial status display. I fixed colors, selected icons, sized and placed buttons, all while designing with a refreshingly free reign. I am particularly happy with the white-space, which is so important for the eye.

ScanTrac Welcome Screen

Later, I helped design and integrate an on-device support tool for sending screenshots and error messages to the server for help. I also built most of the “code of the day” functionality, which hides admin settings behind a daily changing passcode. This allows us to lock down advanced settings while keeping it easy to admin, since all we have to do is hand out daily access codes as needed.

I also helped build a substantial amount the back end admin portal, which uses bootstrap, jQuery, datatables, localforage, bower, and a postgres database.